The producer of the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage calls Elise Witt "a performer to remember with international savvy & personal charm." Legend has it Elise sang before she talked, and she's been singing and making songs every since. Elise's songs are both quirky and catchy. “We’re All BORN SINGING," her 12th recording on the independent EMWorld Records label, celebrates the power of music and especially singing to vibrate us body and soul, and bring us together as community. Elise’s songs explore the world of bees and spiders, love and Buddhist thought. She queries the origins of dust, both household and cosmic. She sings her fascination with global languages, and she honors her muses and mentors from Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich, and Mercedes Sosa, to Rhiannon, Ysaye Barnwell, and Fred Onovwerosuoke. Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra founding member Rhiannon calls Elise’s new CD “brave and beautiful!” We’re All BORN SINGING is a wild departure from the 11 previous recordings for this Atlanta singer. Spoken word, choral pieces, and soundscapes, join with an array of lush arrangements celebrating the power of music, especially singing to vibrate us body and soul and bring us together as community. We’re All BORN SINGING was co-produced by Elise and Terry Garthwaite from the iconic Bay Area band Joy of Cooking. Collaboration has been the name of the game in recording these songs. And because the theme of the music is centered around the human voice, there are some wonderful singers adding their voices to the mix. Expect a stage full of singers including Gayanne Geurin, the Dean Brothers (Tommy, Britt & David), Sonia Osio, Sara Moylan, Ann Connor, Rebecca Keel, Sara Gregory, and students from the Global Village Project, a school for teenage refugee girls in Decatur GA, where Elise is the director of Music Programs. The solid Atlanta band on the CD features Mick Kinney (piano, vibraphone, octave fiddle, organ), Ken Gregory (trumpet, guitar, bass), Dub Hudson (tenor sax, flute), and cross cultural percussionist Durham NC's Beverly Botsford, leading an eclectic rhythm section. "Only Love Will Do" and "An Unlikely Love Affair" were recorded at Studio E in Sebastopol CA, Jeff Martin engineering. For those sessions, the original Joy of Cooking rhythm section rocked the house - Fritz Kasten on drums, David Garthwaite on bass, Terry Garthwaite on guitar and harmony vocals, plus the illustrious Nina Gerber on guitar, Giovanna Imbesi on piano, and Oona Garthwaite on harmony vocals. Elise says, “Perhaps my favorite instrument on the CD is the Glass Harp. Atlanta’s Brien Engel travels all over the world with 50 glasses sized from a giant brandy snifter to tiny shot glasses. The Glass Harp appears on the songs "Bees Make Honey" and "Amoeba." The sound is absolutely magical! By the way, Brien also plays Mbira (Zimbabwe thumb piano) which you will hear on "I See You With My Heart," one of several musical language collages.” Global songstress Elise Witt was born in Switzerland, raised in North Carolina, and since 1977 has made her home in Atlanta. She speaks five languages fluently, sings in over a dozen more, and has been a cultural ambassador to South Africa, Italy, Nicaragua, Switzerland, and China. A songwriter and composer, she tours the United States and the world with her Global, Local & Homemade Songs™. Her latest CD “We’re All BORN SINGING," is her 12th recording on the independent EMWorld Records label, and many of her compositions have been arranged for choirs in the Elise Witt Choral Series. From 1980-2000, Elise sang with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus under the direction of Robert Shaw, and in recent years, she has studied extensively with masters of improvisation Bobby McFerrin, David Darling, and Rhiannon, African vocal expert Dr. Fred Onovwerosuoke, and Sweet Honey in the Rock's Dr. Ysaye Maria Barnwell, all of whose pedagogy she incorporates into her own teaching. She has earned a reputation as a masterful educator, encouraging even the shyest singers to revel in their voices. As a Residency Artist, she works with students in elementary schools through high schools and universities, as well as with professional ensembles and community groups. Her workshops and concerts use music as a language to celebrate our cultural diversity while appreciating our connections as one human family. Her concerts are famous for turning audiences (even self-professed "non-singers") into an Impromptu Glorious Chorus™. "Her performance is like a suitcase plastered with stickers from around the world … populated with interesting characters both heroic and comic." ~ Raleigh Times "Elise is a state treasure and we are so proud to be able to support her work." ~ Chair, Georgia Council for the Arts